DEA victim wants full report released

DEA victim calls for release of full report

San Diego student Daniel Chong flanked by his lawyers spoke to the press about the release of a summary by the Justice Department's inspector general. His lawyers demanded the full report be released of Chong's detention.

San Diego student Daniel Chong flanked by his lawyers spoke to the press about the release of a summary by the Justice Department's inspector general. His lawyers demanded the full report be released of Chong's detention.

With his lawyers on either side of him, Daniel Chong issued a public call Thursday for the federal government to release everything the Inspector General's Office learned about how Chong was accidentally left in a holding cell for five days.

"Of course I'm interested in what really happened, what exactly happened to me, because of how inconceivable it is," Chong said. "I would like to know what happened."

An executive summary of the Inspector General's report said that four separate agents saw or heard Chong during his ordeal, but did nothing because they all assumed someone else would release Chong. The report said a field office decision to review the incident locally -- using two of the agents involved in the apparent neglect -- violated DEA policy and undercut any possible criminal sanctions for those at fault.

The student was caught up in a drug sweep in April 2012 but was told he would be let go without charges. Handcuffed for days in a 5-by-10 cell, he drank his urine and attempted to eat his broken eyeglasses in delirium. He attempted to cut the message "sorry mom" into his arm, convinced he would die in the cell.

The Department of Justice spent two years investigating what went wrong and released a three-page summary of the findings on Tuesday. U-T San Diego and the ACLU filed separate U.S. Freedom of Information Act requests for the full report and any attachments or supplements. Government officials have yet to respond.

Chong, who spent four days in the hospital recovering from dehydration and other serious illnesses, last year accepted a $4.1 million settlement from the government. Thursday he said the full report should be released publicly.